Valve-lock



1. D. FARMER.

vALvE LocKl APPLICATION FILED AUG.23, 1917.

Ptented May 4,

JAMES D. FARMER,` 0F lSil?. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

VALVE-LOCK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented' May 4, 1920.

Application led August 23, 1917. Serial No. 187,735.

To all whom f/nay concern: f

Be it known that I, JAMES D. FARMER, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of the city of St. Louis and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in jV'alve- Locks for Gasolene-Motors, of which the `following is a specification.

. The primary object of this invention is to provide an improved lock for Vautomobiles, said lock being in the form" ofa valve,

and located at a point between the gasolene tank and the carbureter or motor, said valve or lock being operated under a combination, Y 15- only one'that-will know the combination, so

in which the operator of the car 'will be the as to set the same in position for allowing gasoleneto be fed from the gasolene tank to the 4motor.

dependently of one another so that they can be properly alined, when the operator has been made aware of the positions to which the parts are to be moved so that a supply Vof gasolene may be allowed to be admitted l l are adapted to be placed in alinement with to the carbureter of an explosive motor. f

Other and further objectswill appear in the specification and be specifically vpointed out in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings exemplifying the invention, and in which,

Figure 1 is a fragmentary sectional view of the forward portion of an automobile,

showing this improved combination locking valve connected tothe supply line leading from the gasolene tank to the motor. Y

Fig.V 2 is an enlarged vertical section having a portion thereof rbroken away, of this improved combination valve lock.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal 'section taken on the une III-nier rig. a

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken on the line IV-IV of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings as shown in Fig. 1, this improved combination valve and lock islocated in circuit with the supply pipe 2 which leads from the gasolene tank 3 to the carbureter 4, andleading from said v carbureter to the motor 5 isa pipe. The p supply pipe 2 is vdivided into sections 7 and 8, and the valve lock 1 comprises a casingv 9 to which the section 7 leads, said casing being closed by the bottom plate 9*,'wh1ch is brazed into a securing position, and turnably mounted in said casing is a vertically arranged sleeve 10, said sleeve having a pair ofV oppositely disposed openings 11. formed in the walls thereof, said openings of said sleeveV adapted to aline with the pipe sections 7 and 8, respectively, there being an opening on each side of said casing 9 for communication with -said sections 7 and'8 of the pipe 2.-

Formed integral with the casing 9 land extending upwardly therefrom is a tubular portion 12, and held rigid with the upper end of said portion 12 is a dial plate 13, on which are formed a series-of characters ranging from cipher to nine. Formed on top of said plate 13 is an annular rib 14, and formed in said rib are a series of notches A15, there being a notch 15 corresponding to each of the characters formed on said plate,

each of said notches being radially alined with each character.V Y

Mounted within the sleeve 10 is an intermediate sleeve 16, saidn sleeve having its outer wall bear against the inside wall of the sleeve 10, and having a pair of oppositely disposed openings 17 formed therein 4,which .rounds the upperend of saidv tubular member 18, there being a keying portion 21 formed on said collar'which engages a slot 22, there being' a series` of said slots formed on the upper end of said member 18. t f Mounted within the sleevel isa turnably mounted member 23, said* member having its outer wall bearing against the inner'wall of the member l16', and extending upwardly from said member 23 and secured thereto is anextended portion 24 which is mounted in the tubular member 251 which is formed integral with the sleeve 16, saidl tubular member '25 having its upper end extending above the member 18, and removably secured to the upper end of said member 25 is a collar 26 bearing a retaining linger 27, said collar'26 Y being secured tothe member 25 in a manner 110 similar to the collar 20 of the tubular member 18.

lThe member 24 which is secured to the turnably mounted member 23 extends above the upper end of the member 25, and removably secured to the extended portion thereof is a collar 28, bearing a retaining finger 29, said collar being secured to the member 24 in a manner as related relative to the collars 20 and 26.

As afore related, this improved locking device'is in the form of a combination valve, and is` adapted to serve as a locking element in the supply pipe leading from the fuel tank to the motor, in which the'device when serving as a lock closes communication be- `tween the fuel tank and the motor, but can be located in any desired positionlproviding the device is located in circuit with the fuel supply, and can be located in the fuelltank if desired.

From an inspection of Figs. 2 and 3 of theV drawings, it is to be noted that the passageway'or opening 30 of the centrally ar ranged turnably mounted member 23is in a position of'allnement with the openings 17 and 11 of the sleeves 10 and 16, thereby providing a supply passageway through this improved locking element, in which the fuel will be allowed to be drawn from the tank 3 through the carbureter f1 to the motorV V5.

For providing proper registration ofthe openings or passageways of the members 10, 16A and 23, respectively, the collars 20, 26 and 28 of said members and retaining fingers 19, 27 and 29 pertaining thereto Vhave been set in their respective notches 15, said notches vcoinciding with the numerals seven, one, three, in which the finger 19 isin engagement with the notch designated as seven, whereas the finger 27 is in engagement with the notch designated'as one, and

the finger 29 being in engagement with the notch vdesignated as three, said numerals seven, one, three indicating the combination relative to placing the passageways of the members 10, 16 and 231 in alinement so that thel motor can be started. v

When' a vehicle equipped with this' improved'device is to be left standing, the' operator Vupon engagement with one or all of the aforesaid retaining fingers and'removing the position orpositions of the same will destroy the combination, or in other words, offset or break the alining passageway 31, thereby preventin'o` fuel communication between the sections? land 8 of the supply pipe 2,l thereby providing a lock against an unauthorized person trying to start the motor,` as the fuel supply has been cut off, and since the' unauthorized person has not been made aware of the combination relative to what set ofnumerals are to be used, it is obvious that a perfect lock has .been established relative to preventing the vsup'ply'o'f felto Vthe taining fingers can be placed'as indicating the elected'numerals only. i 1

motor, so that the same cannot ,be started and the vehicle stolen.

For convenience of illustration, as shown in Fig; 1, thedial plate 13 is located beneath the bottom 32 of the vehicle, there being a small trap door 33 formed above said dial plate, thereby placing the dial.y plate .and operating fingers 19, 27 and 29 in anaccessible position tothe operator, and incidentally in a hidden position so that an observer cannot noticel the combination of numbers to whichthe device is set' when the motor is in operation. vThis dial, however,` and operating fingers can be placed in` any other desi-red position, for instance, on the dash board, in which case Yit might be desirable to do away with the 'straight tubular connection, as indicated by numerals'18, 24 and 25, and use a flexible connection, such as universal joints or gears, all ofwhich are considered to be known quantities as regards mechanical operativeness. Y

Attention is called to Fig. 3`which shows the offset positionof the passageway 31 relative to the center' taken through the turnable members 10, 1-6 and 23. whichk makes the combination greater as l against if the passageway was made through"`the center of all of the members, in which'instance` if the passageway was formed through the center, the' combination seven, one,'three could alsobe made by moving thefinger indicatingseven of'Fi'g. 4 lto two,.the4 finger indicating one to six, and the finger indicating three to:eight,in which all of. the turn` able members'when turned half way around would properly register, but in the instance in which thepassageway 31 is offsetthe re- What I claim is: 1

1; A locking device for "preventing'the passage of fuelto a motor, comprising a series of fincased concentrica'lly arranged 'turnablyy mountedsleeve like members, each of said members havingv a' pair' of relatively long i and narrow opposing slots extending to the bottom thereof, each pair of slots being off-set relative to the center of saidmembers, said slots' of each of said members being adaptedfto"registerwith `one another, and means located outside of the casing of. said members for pre-determiningvthe'operative and inoperative positions offsaid members.V i' i 2.-V A locking element for preventing the passage' of fuel to a motor, comprising a series of incased turnably mounted sleeve like members, eachof saidmembers having a pair of relatively'long andnarrow opposing slots extending tothebottom thereof, said slotsv of each of said members being adapted to register with one another and i form an offset passagerelative to the center of said members;5V v

3. A looking element for preventing the passage of fuel to a motor, comprising a series of inoasefl eoneentrieally arranged turnably mounted sleeve like members, each 5 of said members having a pair of off-set opposing relatively long and narrow slots extending to the bottom thereof, said slots of each of said members being adapted to register With one another, and means located outside of the easing of said members for l0 predetermining the operative and inoperative positions of said members.

JAMES D. FARMER. 

